The Jihad we Muslims crave for...

I studied in an all-Muslim school. We used to have a forty-five minute class, or a period as we called it, called Deeniyath. It means the study of Deen or religion. This is the class I remember the most from my school days. I loved it for two reasons: (1) the subject did not carry any weight in our academics and (2) it was filled with stories which fascinated me, and to think about it - continue to fascinate me even now. The teacher, we called him Molsaab (a Hyderabadi version of Maulvi sahab), is the one I can never forget. He was a small, angry, passionate man. Students feared him. Students hated him. I don’t remember having any such fear or hatred towards him though. He was wonderful to me. He told me beautiful stories I still remember. He taught a lot about Islam (ten years of Deeniyath, so it is kind of obvious). Though I never knew how important the classes would be, now if I look back, those are the ones that taught me the most.

Islam promotes Deen and Duniya - Religion and World, meaning worldly life is just as important. And that it is the basic duty of every Muslim to seek education. If I may quote what I was taught by Molsaab – ‘Ilm ka haasil karna, har Musalman, mard aur aurat, par farz hai’ said the Prophet. It translates to mean that seeking knowledge is the duty of every Muslim (the word ‘farz’ if you may have noted, translates to duty, not a right, thus giving more importance to 'do what you need to do' than to 'demand what you deserve'). Similarly, we had a compilation of thirty Hadees, which are the sayings and deeds of the Prophet. And then there were stories.

Of the many stories I heard about the Prophet during those ten years of Deeniyath, one which I recall, and remember the most is the one about an old woman. An old woman who hated the Prophet. An old woman who hated him so much that she would throw trash on him every day when he was on his way to the mosque to pray. The Prophet never responded. Never got angry. Never thought about taking revenge. And it continued for many days. One fine day, the Prophet en route to the mosque, passing by the old woman’s house noted that the old woman didn't throw any trash on him. The Prophet was not pleasantly surprised, he was rather worried. He went inside the house to check on the old woman, who apparently was severely ill. The Prophet helped her with medication and she got back to her normal health. The old woman never troubled the Prophet again. The story seems childish, almost stupid; but there were many lessons learnt in this stupid-like story.

As we grew up we were taught that we, as Muslims, are to take the example of the Prophet and his life as an ideal one to lead our lives. We were also taught that there is no way anyone can be as perfect as the Prophet, but we must strive, we must struggle. I believed in all those things. I believe in them today. I hope I continue to believe in them until the end of my life. But for those who haven’t been taught these things, they might just about start to question if Islam is what the Muslims do. We, the Muslims, we flaunt our beards but our eyes are filled with rage. We, the Muslims, we flaunt our skull caps while there’s only hatred in our hearts. We, the Muslims, we wear pants above our ankles, and that makes us a superior Muslim than the one who doesn’t. The beard, the skull cap, the pants are all what the Prophet appeared like. But his eyes were calm, his heart was full of love and he was the most humble of Mankind. Unfortunately, appearance is what we learn and the intentions we conveniently ignore.

These are still smaller things, but the so called Muslims have gone way ahead. They take hostages. They kill innocent people. They storm into schools. They kill children. CHILDREN! All these actions by those who claim to follow the Prophet. The same Prophet who checked on a woman who threw trash on him every day. How can these people be Muslims at all? How can they just not learn the basic teachings of Islam and claim to be the clerics? These are not Muslims. We are different. What we are taught is different.

While I learnt many of the basic teachings of Islam in school, there’s this one thing I learnt a little later. A little later when the so called Muslims had spread their terror throughout the world. A little later when I was old enough to actually understand how basic it was and how contrasting the so called Muslims had made it look like. A little later when I realised why we were taught to try and replicate the ideal life that our Prophet lived - because it is not easy. It is a struggle. It is the biggest struggle a Muslim can take up. And this struggle my dear friends, is the real Jihad. The Jihad we Muslims crave for…

Why should women try to be a man's equal?

Out of many random things that irritate me, one which ranks high are people who cry over their rights. I believe there is a balance in nature - you do your duties well, you'll be awarded with your rights. Too ideal, yes, but that's how nature is, isn't it? Ideal to the core, but as simple as it can get. But then, the human beings that we are, we fail in doing the simple things most of the times, then we grow a complex within ourselves, and then we demand our rights, for we know we aren't going to get them on a silver platter since we haven't done our duties well enough. 

I've heard about various organisations which demand rights - animal rights, human rights, gay rights, women rights, etc, etc. I am too naïve to understand why these organisations are required, but there are certain concepts that they preach, which I find silly. To start with, most of the woman rights arguments revolve around the fact that women are to be treated equal to men, because they in fact can do anything that a man can. I agree the world is a bit male dominated, I agree that women can do anything that a man can, but I do not agree that women need to be a man's equal. I've been touted as a 'male chauvenistic pig' by a female friend of mine, and she says so whenever I point out to something that any woman tries to do which is not actually required.  I say so not to degrade women, but to make a point that, it is not something which is needed to prove that they're as good as men. 

I have a lot of respect for women. What better a person to know than my mother, who I respect for how she brought us up (for such amazing children, you got to respect her, no?), how she holds the family together, how she does so many little things, each day, I can only dream of. I've witnessed a sister so brave, I'd shit in my pants each day if I was her. I've seen how a woman can love, makes me think I am a nomad when it comes to loving someone. Point being, there are a lot of things that women can do, which are in a way far more superior than what a man can imagine doing. They can do household chores at ease, go out there and do much better than a man when it comes to having a career, and above all - love unconditionally. 'A man can never be a woman's equal', I had read somewhere which I can't agree more with, and I keep wondering when woman are so much more superior, why should they try and degrade themselves to be a man's equal?